Planning a summer event to remember is difficult in a day and age where everybody seems to have done everything and experienced everything. As an event planner, you have to do something big and bold to make an impression on your guests and to provide them with beautiful moments (to share on Twitter, and Facebook.) Once you’ve got all the press, promotions, signs & banners out of the way that promise a memorable and fun time, you have to deliver on those event promises and ensure that your guests are fully entertained.

Whether your planning a private party, block party, wedding, festival, or other outdoor shin-dig, the following ideas represent some original concepts that you can use this summer to add some sparkle and magic to proceedings.

Rent an inflatable screen and projector for a super-fun event idea

Outdoor Cinema

As the sun goes down and the stars come out, what better way to entertain your guests than with a movie on the big screen. It’s not difficult or even that expensive to rent a projector and an inflatable screen for your movie night. And if you want to do this small-scale, a white drop cloth or large white wall can be just as fun. Rental companies such as FunFlicks® are surprisingly inexpensive and have packages that start at a few hundred bucks.

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This idea can also be great for weddings to use as a backdrop for dancing and celebration. Projecting videos of the happy couple or specially made home movies of your friends and family is a great way to personalize the experience.

Tiki Lounge

Nothing says sunshine and fun like a tiki room for guests to chill out in on those super-hot summer days. This is an idea that can be applied to both small events and large functions. Whether you deck out an area of your backyard with patterned sofas, bamboo chairs, and thatched umbrellas, or you rent and build an entire chill out room for a festival, it’s a great way to put the “cool” in your event.

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When organizing a big summer event or festival, a tiki bar is ideal for attracting food and drink vendors; a few well-placed standing banners or banner signs represents the perfect advertising and promotional opportunity.

Photo Booth

For buckets of joy and laughter and for creating massive photo ops for social sharing, set up a special area that has a fun backdrop and selection of costumes, wigs, gags and props. Whether at a small outdoor function or a big outdoor event, people cannot resist lampooning themselves and getting funny pictures to put on facebook.

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Don’t forget to put a yard sign, chalkboard sign, or other sign next to your photo booth with your specific event hashtag, i.e., #partyintheparkpics, and other event pages and sharing sites. Better still, provide a big QR code with access to a hashtag or social share space. Make it easy for people to share and promote.

Bubble Rooms

Another way to get out of the heat and chill for a while is with a bubble room. Perfect for creating a modern and futuristic environments, companies such as Casa Bubble rent out transparent bubble rooms for big and small functions. Available in all manner of different sizes, shapes, and coolness, these aesthetically pleasing rooms are a major talking point and photo-op attention grabber (you can take pictures of the outside inside!)

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Use your bubble room as a reception lounge, catering room, bar lounge, or cool hang-out. As with the tiki idea, it’s a great way to attract drink and food vendors, and a great place to put banners and other promotions outside.

Vintage Gaming

A quick search on Etsy will provide you with everything you need to put together a vintage gaming theme to your outdoor event. A really fun idea, games of “old-timey” bowling, croquet, and whack-a-mole are surprisingly fun and completely adorable when you want to present an idea of old fashioned elegance and style. It’s the kind of original idea that not only gets people talking, but snapping pictures and socially sharing.

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For festivals and other outdoor events, turn it into an online competition where people can share their scores on a leaderboard hashtag or other social share space. Take the opportunity to get people competing. You may even want to consider awarding prizes to winners. Make sure you communicate all these features via signs & banners with relevant online directions and QR code links.

For all your banners and signs as well as other event prints and promotions, go to NextDayFlyers and order your affordable products.